Gaara's crush
by Kerena13
Summary: Nakuru is a girl who's parents died when she was ten. At sixteen, she meets Gaara, and falls for him. But when he's kidnapped by the Akatsuki, her romance comes to a halt. Will She, with the help of Naruto and Sakura, be able to save Gaara? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

"Ugh…who knew that the Kazekages had so much paperwork?" grumbled sixteen-year old Gaara. He was stuck in his office, filling out forms, documents, and ect. Hw wished that he could enjoy the comfortable September day, but the only thing that would allow him get out of the musty room was if some big crime or calamity fell over the village. What were the chances of _that _happening?

"Lord Kazekage! Lord Kazekage!" Shouted a sand ninja, bursting into the room, "We have reason to suspect that there is a traitor in our midst!" The ninja motioned with his other hand, and two other sand ninjas came in, dragging a girl behind them. She looked sixteen, and had long sunny blond hair. Her aquamarine eyes looked glazed over, and her light, fair skin was covered with scratches and bruises. Her headband, which was tied around her neck, had various nicks and cuts along the Sunagakure symbol. A long, deep cut on her left arm ran from her elbow to her hand, and on her left leg another gash ran from her knee to her ankle. Gaara couldn't see her wounds because the ninja stood in front of her, blocking his sight of her cuts. Her turquoise, off-shoulder top was ripped and dirty, and her matching skirt and black leggings looked no different. Her sandals looked ready to fall apart, as so many nicks ,cuts, and slashes were gouged into them. The girl weakly looked up at Gaara before saying in a pained voice: "I….I'm not…a traitor…you've…you've got it all wrong."

"What are your reasons for suspecting she's a traitor?" Gaara asked, his attention drifting from paperwork to the matter before him.

"We were sent on a mission, the three of us. We stepped outside of the village gates, and there this one was, standing over a dead ninja from our village. We searched to see if there was anyone else, but there were no signs of any other people, besides this girl. Also, the dead ninja had a stab wound to the chest which looked like it was made with a kunai knife. This girl was clutching a bloody kunai when we found her."

The girl had been dumped on the floor, like a useless doll. She sat silently as the three ninja accused her of bring a traitor to the village. But now she was trying her best to not cry out in pain because of her wounds.

Gaara looked at the girl, noticing her wounds for the first time. "Why in god's name did you not treat her wounds?! There could be deadly poison in them! When I return from taking this poor girl to the hospital, I'll give you the full lecture." Gaara stood up from his chair, then gingerly helped the girl up, giving the three very embarrassed ninjas the "Gaara look of death".

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A few minutes later, the pair was slowly walking down the road, with the girl leaning on Gaara for support.

"What's your name, anyway?" Gaara asked, looking at the girl.

"My name? It's Nakuru." Nakuru answered, her face turning the lightest shade of pink.

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A good hour later, Nakuru was given a hospital bed and her wounds were treated to. The poison that had entered her body through her wounds was a very simple poison, and the doctors had no trouble in taking it out.

Gaara entered Nakuru's room just as the medic ninjas finished wrapping her leg..

"You okay?" Gaara asked, stepping into the room.

"Yeah. Thank you for bringing me here Lord Kazekage."

"So…what exactly happened to you?" Gaara asked, pulling a chair next to the bed. Nakuru's eyes lit up in a dull, angry fire.

"I was sent on a mission in a three-man cell to gather intelligence on a rouge ninja named Kiryu Yamazaki. Little did I know that some of Yamazaki's groupies were tailing us. On our way back, they ambushed us, and killed my two teammates. I was able to kill two of them, but the third got away. I would have let the bodies stay, but I just couldn't bear to leave them lying there. So I chose a spot a little ways away, and started burying them. I first buried the ninjas that I killed. But when I did start to bury them, my rage got the better of me. I stabbed one of them with my kunai knife. I was about finished with all the graves when those other three ninjas came and saw my fallen comrade, who was killed with a kunai knife. They immediately charged me with treason, without listening to my explanation."

Suddenly, a nurse came bustling in, saying that Nakuru was free to go home. The nurse shooed Gaara out of the room so that she could help Nakuru get dressed.

"Dear, how did you ever get Lord Kazekage to bring you here?" the nurse asked, helping Nakuru put her new magenta shirt on, which was identical to her other shirt except in color.

"I was wrongly accused of a crime and when Lord Kazekage saw that my wounds weren't attended to, he said that he needed to get me to the hospital." Nakuru answered, pulling some black leggings and a hot pink skirt out of a bag on the bed and pulling them slowly on.

The nurse chuckled playfully. "Lord Kazekage isn't exactly what you'd call a peoples person, but maybe he's better than we think, eh?" she questioned, giving Nauru a sly wink.

Nakuru's cheeks flushed crimson as she sat down in a chair. "Wha…? No, no! besides, why would Lord Kazekage _ever _take a liking to _me_?" she asked quietly as the nurse began to fix her hair.

The nurse, who now had two black scrunchies on her arm and a brush in her hand, gave Nakuru a knowing smile. "I've seen the Kazekage many times before, checking up on many patients, but he's _never_ brought one here himself, or wait with them while they were being treated. Besides, I saw the way he looked at you. Girl, he's got it bad!' the nurse whispered, giving Nakuru another wink. Then the nurse gave Nakuru a serious look. "But you should also watch out for yourself, dear. This is the third time this month that you've been here. The other wounds were trivial, but these are more serious."

Nakuru looked at her hands, which were now adorned with black fingerless gloves. "I know, Rika. But the missions that I've been going on have gotten really dangerous lately. It's hard to even travel from here to Konohagakure without being ambushed. But I've got to go on with my missions, or else I'll let down my family."

Rika braided Nakuru's hair, adding a pink ribbon to the braid. As she was about to tie off the braid with another scrunchie, she got an idea. Rika took from her pocket a small, thin ribbon that she delicately tied to the base of Nakuru's braid. "This ribbon," Rika said smiling, "belonged to my little sister. She died on her first mission, but she died saving her friends. This is kind of a good luck charm from me."

Nakuru smiled at Rika, her eyes lighting up with joy. "Thank you, Rika. Thank you…"

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Gaara was once again sitting in his office when his sister, Temari, burst into the room with a devilish grin on her face.

"So, little brother…I hear that you _personally_ escorted a girl to the hospital. Anything to say?" Temari asked, her grin getting wider as Gaara turned hot pink.

"S-she was hurt, all right? I just took her to the hospital, no big deal."

Temari wagged a finger at him. "Ah ah ah. Don't even bother lying to me, because I can tell if you're lying anyway. My sources say that you even _waited_ to make sure that she was alright. If that's not a case of a bad crush, I don't know _what_ is!"

Gaara let out a deep sigh. "Who cares, though? She wouldn't like me. I'm the freak, remember?"

Temari's features softened, and she sat in the chair opposite of Gaara. "Gaara, you're not the same person you were two years ago. You've changed. For instance, you now _talk_. It used to be really hard to get you to say a _word_. And now people can talk to you and not have their lives threatened. I think it's a wonderful improvement! So don't look so down. Who knows? Maybe _she_ has a crush on_ you_!"

Gaara gave her a half-hearted smile. "Thanks for the talk, sis. But the chances of anyone liking me are about a million to one." With that, Gaara stood up and walked out of the office.

'_Hmmm,_ Temari thought, _maybe I could talk to this girl. What did my sources say her name was? Oh, yeah, Nakuru. Well, ready or not, here I come!'_

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How do you like? After ten comments, I'll write more. Toodles!


	2. Temari creates confusion

Nakuru woke up early, happy she was in her house. She got up, showered, then slipped on a strapless violet tank top and a navy skirt with violet leggings. She left her hair loose, but added a blue flowery barrette.

Nakuru slowly un-bandaged her arm and inspected her cut. It was going away, and wouldn't leave a scar. '_Thank goodness for small favors._' thought Nakuru, grinning as she saw that her leg wound was healed completely, not a mark to be seen.

She remembered how the Kazekage took her to the hospital, and her cheeks flushed at the memory. '_Could Rika have been right? No, that's silly. Who ever heard of a Kazekage falling for some girl he just met?'_ Nakuru's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knocking on her door. She went over to the door, surprised that she had a visitor.

Temari stood in front of Nakuru, her hair in its usual four ponytails. "Hey, you're Nakuru, right?" Temari asked, flashing Nakuru a bright smile. "Can I come in?"

Nakuru nodded and closed the door after Temari. Temari sat cross-legged on a red cushion, while Nakuru, with her feet tucked up under her, sat on a blue one. "So…um…" Nakuru began, twiddling with her fingers, "W-why did you come to see me? Do I have a new mission?"

"Nope. I just wanted to chat a little. See if the rumors were true." Temari said, winking.

Nakuru turned crimson as soon as Temari winked. "W-what rumors?"

"About my brother _personally_ escorting you to the hospital. My brother doesn't do favors for a lot of people, so I'm really surprised. What exactly happened, anyway?" Temari asked, resting her chin on her right hand.

"N-nothing really. Lord Kazekage just got mad at the ninjas who refused to treat my wounds and then took me to the hospital. That's all, miss Temari." Nakuru stammered, her face turning beet red.

Temari snorted, her back straightening. "Well, I for one think that my brother has been acting a little weird since yesterday."

"What do you mean…'weird'?" asked Nakuru, her blush fading to a slight pink.

"_That _is for me to know, and you to find out!" Temari answered, grinning a devilish grin. She then stood up and said goodbye, letting herself out the door, leaving Nakuru to ponder about the behavior of Gaara.


	3. Gaara confessesand is kidnapped!

Gaara sat in his office, thinking about the events that took place the previous day. Though he didn't want to admit it, he _did_ like Nakuru. She just seemed so…so _perfect. _There was definitely no other way to describe her. She had a perfect personality; loyal, honest, optimistic, and a bubbly disposition that could make a stone statue smile. But she wasn't silly, or ditzy, or another dumb blond. She was intelligent, but knew when to relax and when to be serious. '_And she's not that bad looking.'_ Gaara mused, remembering her slim figure, heart shaped face, long sunny hair, coral lips and turquoise eyes.

His thoughts were interrupted by Kankuro barging into the room, out of breath and sweaty.

"Is it true Gaara?!?!" Kankuro exclaimed, running up to his brothers desk, staring in wide eyed disbelief into his sibling's face. Gaara blinked slowly.

"Is _what_ true Kankuro? I don't understand." Gaara said, suspecting that his brother had caught wind of the new rumor.

"He's asking if you like Nakuru, genius." Temari said, entering into the room. She smirked as Gaara's face flushed pink. "Guess it's a yes then."

"Oh, little brother, I'm so HAPPY for you!" Kankuro cried, smothering Gaara in a big bear hug.

"Can't…breathe…let…go…" Gaara choked out, gasping for air.

"Hmm? Oh! Sorry, little brother!" Kankuro said apologetically, letting go of Gaara and sitting in a chair in front of Gaara's desk. Temari sat in a chair next to Kankuro.

"So…why don't you just tell her?" Temari asked, leaning back in her chair.

"W-what if she doesn't like me? I don't know how I would take that…" an image of him killing everyone in sight flashed through Gaara's mind. He shuddered at the thought. He wasn't as emoish as everyone thought. He just couldn't talk to anyone else besides his siblings like a normal person, due to shutting everyone out of his life since he was five. At twelve, he met Naruto, who showed him that just because some people are mean, not everyone is bad. But everyone had grown so used to the _old _Gaara that they barely acknowledged the new. And the apparent black rings around his eyes, which made him look, in his opinion, like a raccoon, had become permanent, even though he now had eight hours of sleep a night.

"Well, you could-" began Temari, but was cut short due to a loud explosion in the village. Gaara wasted no time in jumping out of the window and, while using his sand to make a sort of tidal wave, rode to the border of the town. Temari and Kankuro rushed to the window and watched as Gaara began to battle a blond, black robed figure riding on a bird-like creature in the distance. Yet, despite Gaara's abilities, his siblings reeled in surprise as the blond figure landed a solid blow to Gaara's face.

Kankuro could not stand idly by and watch his brother get killed. He too leaped from the windowsill and landed safely at the entrance to the village. But when he dared move forward, a great turtle-like being came into view, a white bandanna covering the lower half of its face, showing only its dull, black, piercing eyes.

"Deidara is doing his job of taking care of the jinkuri* [*jinkuri (sorry if spelled wrong) are hosts to demons such as nine tailed fox]. As for my part of this mission…" the creature extended a rather long tail, with sharp needles for spines and a triangle blade attached to its end, "I am to make sure that no one interferes. Die, vermin!" it shouted, shooting a needle that lightly scratched Kankuro's arm. Yet, even though naught but a drop of blood spilled from Kankuro's body, he felt like the moment of death was upon him, and he collapsed to the ground. The creature and the being named Deidara vanished, taking the now unconscious Gaara with them.

Temari had used her fan to float out of the window, but a gust of wind carried both to the center of the village. By the time she was at Kankuro's side, both strangers had vanished.

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Dun-dun-DUN!!! I just wanted to include an action sequence. Enjoy the rest!!!!


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